In July, France’s Minister for Trade and SMEs Véronique Louwagie called for a European enforcement protocol making it possible to delist sites that breach EU regulations. She has now put a formal request to this effect to the European Commission.

Louwagie has written a formal letter to Michael McGrath, the EU Commissioner for Justice, asking for changes to be made to EU laws, enabling Brussels to delist e-tailers that are in breach of EU regulations. She said that this solution is “necessary” and “urgent,” mentioning the “growing threat to European business interests and the safety of European consumers.”

In the letter, Louwagie praised the Europe-wide investigations carried out against Temu and AliExpress, which are selling a wide range of goods at extremely low prices, as well as the charges brought against ultra-low-cost fashion giant Shein.

The three Asian e-tailers have been accused by some of selling counterfeit and dangerous goods, and by others of adopting practices that violate consumer rights, for example applying false discounts and providing misleading product information.

In early July, France sanctioned Chinese budget apparel e-tailer Shein for “misleading commercial practices,” fining the group €40 million. In 2024, Shein generated a revenue of approximately €35 billion.

In March, France’s Trade Commission indicated it wanted to ban ultra-low-cost e-tailers like Shein and Temu from operating in France. A precedent does exist: at the end of 2021, US budget e-tailer Wish had been delisted in France. Though the site wasn’t closed down, it was impossible for users to find it on search engines unless its full url was typed into the search bar.

The same measure might not be easily applicable to Shein and Temu, as French e-commerce federation Fevad and retail association Alliance du Commerce told FashionNetwork.com in spring. “The situation is by no means the same,” said Yohann Petiot, managing director of Alliance du Commerce, adding that “Wish had failed to respond to the authorities.” Instead, Temu and Shein have started lobbying vigorously, claiming they respect public authorities and emphasising the positives in their business models.

Louwagie’s request is therefore aimed at establishing a new, Europe-wide enforcement protocol for combating Chinese e-tailers. For the time being, the only real measure taken by the EU against ultra-low-cost e-tailers has been abolishing the tax exemption on non-European parcels worth less than €150. However, if not sooner, this measure might not actually be implemented before 2028.

In the meantime, Shein and Temu have consolidated their position among the top 20 most-visited e-tailers in France. In Q2, Temu was the third most-visited site, with 22.5 million monthly unique users, and 3.9 million daily unique users. Shein was the eighth most-visited site, with 16.7 million monthly unique users, and 4.4 million daily unique users, according to a Fevad survey.

(with AFP)